The New York times: Little Bit Country, Lots of Other Stuff

The New York times: Little Bit Country, Lots of Other Stuff

February 23, 2015

FGL feature in The New York Times this week:

At the peak of their powers, the country duo Florida Georgia Line took hip-hop attitude, retrofitted with rural twang and concerns, and stomped to the top of Nashville on the backs of the status-quo bros who came just before them. Florida Georgia Line — Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard — weren’t any good at the status quo, but it turned out they were positively great at tossing it out.

That was, what, a year ago? Thanks to the success of acts like Florida Georgia Line, country is finally exiting its slow-burn age and moving ever so slightly into the singles era — or at least an era in which artists aren’t burdened by the need to build fealty in album-length bites.

A few months ago, Florida Georgia Line released its second album, “Anything Goes” (Republic Nashville), and it was fine, and sometimes better than that. But at the Garden this week, these guys will be 2014 champions wondering, in 2015, how much the soil has moved beneath them. (7 p.m. Wednesday, thegarden.com.)